Nov 23, 20213 min read

Sardar Udham: "Then All Became His Own"

Updated: Feb 21, 2023

Reviews by:

@mr.cinemaaa

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Project Details

Director: Shoojit Sircar
Screenplay: Ritesh Shah & Shubhendu. B
Dialogues: Ritesh Shah
Produced By: Ronnie Lahiri & Sheel Kumar
Production House: Rising Sun Films & Kino Works
Cinematography: Avik Mukhopadhyay
Music Director: Shantanu Moitra
Edited By: Chandrashekhar Prajapati
Art Direction: Pradip Jadhav
Production Design: Dmitriy Malich & Mansi D Mehta
Costumes: Veera Kapur Ee
Fights/Stunts: Aleksandr B & Manohar Verma
Sound Design: Dipankar Chaki & Nihar R Samal
Make Up: Pia Cornelius & Peter Gorshenin
Run Time: 2 Hours & 42 Minutes
CBFC Rating: "U/A"

Direction & Story

A biopic detailing the two decades that Punjabi Sikh revolutionary Udham Singh, an associate of Bhagath Singh, spent planning the assassination of O'Dwyer, the man at helm of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The story is neatly organized. It has all the important details of Sardar Udham Singh panning from 1919 to 1940 and the story suffuses curiously penned drama of his life in every phase of the film in a detailed manner. Shubhendu Bhattacharya & Ritesh Shah’s screenplay is brilliant in the film's second half, especially in the last hour. The starting and the middle portions have a very complex nonlinear narration that looked a bit boring. Director Shoojit Sircar does a brilliant job with his craft. The way he showcases the Jallianwala Bagh massacre is so gut-wrenching and takes us on an emotional ride. Dialogues are superbly written. “Ek wahi bass apni thi, phir sab apne ho gaye” is the best one for me.

Lead Performances

Late Irrfan Khan was the first choice to play the lead role. But dear Vicky Kaushal, Irrfan would be so proud from above to watch you put everything for depicting this character. This film is the finest performance of Vicky Kaushal to date and he is outstanding in his role of Sardar Udham Singh. His minute expressions are so natural and he nails the character to perfection. We can feel the pain through his character, especially in the last hour where he carries the wounded bodies from the pool of dead bodies at the Jallianwala Bagh. Banita Sandhu is neat in her limited role as Udham's mute girlfriend while Kirsty Averton does complete justice as Eileen, the girl who helps Udham in London. Shaun Scott is very believable as Michael O'Dwyer. Amol Parashar shines in his short role as Bhagat Singh. The rest of the cast & all the British actors do well in their respective limited supporting roles.

Detailed Analysis

The first half an hour shows the struggle of Udham Singh to reach London & then proceeds to the fateful day of the assassination. The pace at which it moves is dead slow right from the start itself and the middle portion also doesn't have much effect as it deals with the recce work of Udham & what planning he did he do over the years until the fateful day. The story also does not progress much in the first half of the film. The second half is where it gets engaging with a few interesting sequences like the Bhagat Singh scene, the scenes where Udham talks to O'Dwyer & later to a man near the statue, the investigation & court scenes. Finally, the last 1 hour is the best part overall. The most gruesome portrayal of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre will make you glued to your seats with wet eyes. The pace of the film is a big minus. But if you can sit through it, it will surely make your time worth it.

Technical Team